Protecting Lyndley

by Amanda Bennett

  “Okay well while I’m making my way out to you, start going door to door and seeing if anybody has any information at all. I don’t care if it is just stupid little shit like what color hair she had. I’m going to call Tom the minute I get on the road. I’ll be in touch shortly. Oh and text me the address of where you’re at.”

  “Talk to you soon.”

  The line went dead and I took a few seconds to myself to gather my emotions. I wasn’t willing to be the guy who came into her family’s house to tell them that their daughter is still alive, just to turn around and tell them that she was really dead this time. I took in a deep breath, and started making my way back inside. When I got to the archway that led to the kitchen, I paused. Watching her family joyfully celebrating their daughter coming home had me coming undone. They all seemed so happy, so normal, and I didn’t want to ruin that for them. So I lied.

  “Hey y’all. I just have to run and meet with my boss for a bit. I hate to cut out and not be able to enjoy what smells like an amazing lunch, but you know work. Never a dull moment.”

  “Oh, we were so looking forward to having you join us.” I knew Lyndley’s mother was lying, but at least she was trying to be less abrasive towards me.

  “There will be other lunches, son. You can join us some other time.”

  “Thanks, Greg. Well it was a pleasure meeting all of you and I hope to see you all again real soon. Thanks for the hospitality.” I waved good-bye and practically ran out to my car. I made sure to let the detail car out front know that I was leaving, and then sped out of sight.

  Once I hit the highway, I slammed my foot down on the gas petal and took off. I made good timing getting to where Ruger said he was, but even so it still took too long in my book. I pulled into the parking lot for the motel and instantly caught sight of Ruger who was speaking to one of the maids. I got out and made my way over to him ready to kick his ass for losing the one girl I would’ve given my life for.

  “What do we know?”

  “This maid said she saw her come out of our room this morning around nine. She was in her running gear and took off that way.” Ruger pointed towards the back of the motel.

  “Ma’am, is there a running trail around here?” The maid gave me a perplexed look and pointed in the same direction that Ruger had just pointed. “Thanks.” I muttered.

  “All right, I’ll start back there. Ky go around the opposite side where the road meets back up on the other side of the street.”

  I took off in the direction that we agreed on. I made sure to take my time looking for any clues at all, even though we didn’t have time. When I came up on the almost nonexistent trail that lead away from the front of the motel, I heard Ruger shouting my name from across the way. I took off running in the direction of his voice, but as soon as I came up to where he stood I almost fell to the ground. He was pointing at the ground in front of him and standing next to a broken branch. My mouth went dry and my hands started to shake as we both started following the drag marks below us.

  “It looks like she dug her heels in here, and then whoever it was started to drag her. It doesn’t look like she put up a struggle, so I’m going to guess that they knocked her out with something. There are a few broken branches, but nothing else. No blood, nothing to suggest that she was physically harmed. There’s a set of footprints that appear to be behind her drag marks.”

  “Thanks Captain Obvious, I’m pretty sure I caught all that without your help.”

  “Look Ky, I want to find her just as badly as you do. So if you could stop being a dick for just two seconds and let me help, that would be great.”

  I hung my head as I cursed under my breath. “I’m sorry, Ruger but we are running out of time. You know that just as much as I do. And we still have no leads. Where the fuck would they have taken her?”

  “Wakely, there’s something else I need to tell you.”

  “What now?” I growled.

  “I heard from Tom. Sam Cooper, Lyndley’s boss, is who got Ray out of jail.”

  I looked up at Ruger in shock. Every fear I had about these people finding Lyndley had finally happened. As much as Ruger and I tried, we failed to protect her. We failed to make her feel safe again, and more than anything, I failed her by walking away. Now I may never see her again, and instead of telling her how much I loved her and showing her just that, I chose to run away like I always did. The only difference was this time it was her life that would pay for my mistake.

  Forty One

  Lyndley

  “You look confused, Peaches.” Ray’s laugh echoed throughout the vast open space as he turned his back to me and started speaking to my boss.

  The intensity of the pain in my shoulder was getting worse with every passing second. I kept trying to sneak a peak at the damage Ray was causing to my newly opened wound, but I couldn’t get a clear view. I could feel my heart rate starting to slow and I wondered if it was because of the amount of blood I was losing. I was tired and every part of my body ached beyond belief.

  Ray still had his back turned to me, so I quickly glanced down at my shirt that was now soaked in blood trying to figure out a way out of my current predicament. The entire left side of my shirt was soaked clean through but the rest seemed to be okay. That’s when I noticed that my legs were duck taped to the legs of the chair I was forced to sit in. I let out a small exasperated sigh as it dawned on me that getting myself out of this situation was probably going to be near impossible. At this point all I could do was to hope and pray that some how or another Ky or Ruger would be able to find me.

  My head fell forward as I began to feel a little woozy. Along with it getting harder to breathe, I was also finding it hard to keep my head upright. My body was screaming out in pain, but there was absolutely nothing I could do. Just as I felt as though I was about to pass out Ray’s hand cupped my chin, squeezing my cheeks as hard as humanly possible as he made me look directly at him.

  “Not time to die just yet, Peaches.”

  I used what little bit of energy I had left in me to twist my face out of his grasp. “What the hell do you want from me? I didn’t do this to you.”

  “Oh but you did, Peaches. See, your boss over there hired you for a reason. Did you really think you got one of the biggest cases of your career just handed to you because you are that smart?” I looked at him under my lashes as I scowled. “Oh, you did. That’s cute. The evidence that they arrested me with turned out to be circumstantial. My good friend Sam over here made sure that that’s all it was. Funny thing about judges in this State, they’re so easily bought. And everything you had worked so hard on to keep me behind bars just magically disappeared. They lost all of their evidence, thanks to this man over here, and then what was there really left for them to keep me on?”

  “Why me?”

  Ray pulled my chin back up forcing me to look at him again. “Why not? You were such an eager beaver, you and that friend of yours. Nice trick with that one by the way. I actually believed that one of my guys had gotten to him. Ah well, no worries there. See while Sam here had you working your pretty little fingers to the bone figuring out everything you all would need to put me behind bars, he was actually using all of that to get me out. It’s all too easy these days to put the blame on someone else or to have things come up missing. I tell you, our justice system is fucked. Don’t you think?”

  I found the courage to look over at Sam for the first time since he had entered the room. If he really was a bad guy, then he was going to have to prove it to me. “Mr. Cooper how could you do this to me?” He tried to look away and I knew in that instant that he was the definition of a coward. “You’re nothing but Ray’s lackey. You can’t even look me in the face, the girl that you are trying to take out for knowing more than she should, all because of you. At least I have the balls to face what’s coming to me.”

  In the blink of an eye, Mr. Cooper was bringing his hand down across my cheek with the force of a sledgehammer. I could feel a pop in my fac
e, followed by an extreme amount of pain, but I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he had hurt me. I was determined to show them that no matter what they did to me, they would never break me. I spat out the blood in my mouth onto the floor at Mr. Cooper’s feet before looking up at him with a wide smile on my face.

  “Who has the bigger balls now?” He laughed.

  “Certainly not you.” I quipped.

  His hand came down across the same cheekbone again and it took everything in me to hold back the painful cries. This time I heard the distinct sound of bone breaking, but I paid it no attention.

  Mr. Cooper leaned in close to my face, “Please don’t make me do it again, Lyndley. This isn’t what I signed up for.” He whispered.

  Something inside me knew that he wasn’t as bad as he had made himself seem to Ray. As much as I wanted to save face in front of these assholes, I was at my breaking point. Without saying a word I simply nodded at my boss and shut up. Mr. Cooper clutched his hand in pain and Ray waved him off. I couldn’t see where he had gone, but I could hear the sound of a large metal door sliding against the concrete. Before I had a chance to try and figure out where I was, Ray was back in my face.

  “Well Peaches, I guess there’s only one thing left to do now. I hate to kill such a pretty little thing, but unfortunately you know enough to put me away for a very long time, and we just can’t be having that, now could we?”

  I closed my eyes tight and said a silent prayer. I wasn’t exactly sure how this was going to go down, but I felt as though I needed to make my peace with it now rather than later. When I opened my eyes, I was surprised to see Ray still standing there with what looked like empathy in his eyes.

  “Do what you have to do, Mr. Nelson. I suppose I’ll see you in hell.”

  “Perhaps.” He laughed as he raised the gun he had just pulled out from behind his back. “I really am sorry it had to end this way, Peaches.”

  I opened my eyes wide and looked directly into Ray’s. If he was going to shoot me point blank, then he was going to have to look me in the eyes while doing it. I heard the gun cock and before I could count to three, the gun was going off. I felt the bullet enter my right side, the force of the impact causing the chair and me to topple over onto its side.

  I tried to brace myself for the impact on the concrete floor below me, but with my hands and feet bound there was no possible way to prevent any further injury. My head smacked hard against the unforgiving hardness of the concrete, bounced, and then hit one last time before taking up permanent residence in this concrete palace. My eyes glossed over and my vision became hazy. Ray’s face appeared in front of me moments later with a wicked grin that I wish I could slap off of his arrogant evil face.

  “This is what happens when you stick your nose where it doesn’t belong. It’s a shame such a beautiful young girl of your caliber had to die.” I felt his lips press firmly against my forehead and I closed my eyes in disgust until I felt him pull away. When my eyes reopened the only thing I could see were his feet walking away from me. I opened my mouth to scream for help, but it wouldn’t have done much good.

  The warmth of my blood pooling beneath my head helped ease the pain of my injury. I could feel it slowly creep out through my hair and disperse around my face. I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open, but forced myself to do so for as long as I could, because I knew the minute I let them close I would never want to open them again. My mind drifted to a million different thoughts and memories as I sorted through the last twenty-two years of my short lived life.

  Of course there were thoughts of my parents and sister, and memories too good to forget, but the ones that stood out the most were the ones of Ky. In the short amount of time that I had known him, I had fallen for him with one hundred percent of my heart and every ounce of me yearned to feel his arms wrapped tightly around me one last time. I was going to miss everything about that man, his smile, his smell, and even the way he could get me all riled up just by making a smart-ass comment. In all honesty though, I was just going to miss him in general.

  They say your life flashes before your eyes before you die, and I always wondered if my life would be worth seeing one last time. Now I knew, it was. Every moment with Ky was like another piece of the puzzle of my life fitting into place. I honestly believe that he was who could complete me, but my stubbornness had prevented me from letting him in fully. Regardless of how he felt, I knew my heart would have never felt this full if I would’ve never met him.

  I had never had anybody in my life love me with the passion and persistence that he did. His heart was so caring and giving, even after everything he had endured in his life. I found myself questioning the decisions that I had made at work that brought me to this place, but never in a million years would I ever take it back. The very thing that brought Ky Wakely into my life was now the same thing that was pulling me away from him.

  My thoughts began to blur and I could tell that the end was upon me, but I just couldn’t bring myself to be scared. Instead I relished in the fact that Ky truly did love me, whether he was able to say it or not. I knew deep down in my heart of hearts that he would have given me the world, if given the chance. He was my savior, in more ways than one. He showed me how to love completely and without certainty.

  Nothing in this life is a guarantee, this was a fact I was slowly starting to come to terms with as the life inside of me began to escape. I took solace in knowing that Ky would know how I felt about him, and if given another chance I would tell him exactly how he affected my heart, without the fear of rejection.

  I could smell the thick metallic blood moving its way to my shoulder that was pressed firmly against the ground. I could feel its warmth enveloping my body as I lay unmoving, and there was almost a silent peace to it all. My eyes fluttered shut even with me fighting to keep them open. This was the end. I could feel it in my bones. One last image flashed through my fleeting mind and it was one that I would grasp onto with every ounce of what was left of me before I went.

  We were in my backyard. My mother was lovingly sitting in my father’s lap in one of the lounge chairs, laughing at some comment my father had made. She threw her head back in laughter and in that moment she looked more beautiful than I had ever seen her look. She was carefree and content which was a rare occurrence, but it made me smile all the same. My sister sat next to me tightly holding my hand, as though she knew that I was leaving for good. I glanced over at her and she looked so much wiser than her years. She was stunning and her million-dollar smile was directed right at me.

  I smiled back at her as I looked down at our intertwined hands and gave hers a small squeeze. Her gaze floated above my head and as I turned to see what she was looking at, Ky’s face came into plain view. He was smiling as he bent down to kiss me square on the lips, and I instantly went weak in the knees. I removed my hand from my sister’s grasp and slowly reached up for his face to bring it closer to mine, when a shiny diamond sitting atop my left ring finger caught my attention. Ky reached for my hand and placed a chaste kiss directly below the magnificent ring just before leaning in to kiss my mouth.

  That’s when it all faded to black. I felt a stray tear roll down my cheek as I expelled my last breath from my overworked lungs. I just hope all those I love and hold so dear, know how much I love and will miss them. All is not lost in death, and I hope each and every one of them remembers that when I’m gone.

  Forty Two

  Ky

  It didn’t take long for Ruger and I to find the one abandoned structure in this one horse town. We put in a call to Tom and within minutes we had all the back up we needed to go in after Lyndley. I was strapping on my bulletproof vest when one of the FBI agents confirmed that there were in fact people inside. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins at an extreme rate as he filled us in on how many people there were and where they were inside.

  “There are three people about twenty feet from the door. The way the structure is laid out, it lo
oks like they are in the unfinished part. It only has one exterior wall and it is all cement. If my plans are up to date, then there should be one metal sliding door just to the right when you enter through the main door. Any questions?”

  “No, Howser. I think we’re good. Thanks.”

  “Of course.”

  I turned to Tom and Ruger who were now suited up and ready to go. “What’s the plan, Tom?”

  “There is a small window adjacent to the metal door Howser was talking about. I’m thinking once we breach the main door, we toss in a smoke bomb through that window, and then charge in. Sound good?”

  I pulled out my gun, checked the clip and then cocked it back so there was one in the chamber. “Sounds good to me. I’m ready to go.”

  “Let’s go get your girl.” Ruger shouted as he slapped my shoulder.

  I just smiled in return. We made our way around the police cruisers that were blocking off the perimeter and came to a sudden halt when we saw the main door fly open. Ruger and I crouched down behind the closest cruiser with our guns aimed, as we waited to see who was emerging. There was an agent standing post off to the side of the door and within an instant he was grabbing whoever came out, and dragging them in our direction. When Lyndley’s boss’s face came into view, Ruger had to hold me back as I lunged at him.

  “Where the fuck is she you piece of shit?” My voice came out louder than I had anticipated.

  “Wakely, calm down.” Ruger had me in a half nelson hold and wasn’t letting go anytime soon.

  “Let me go, Ruger. This asshole needs to pay.”

  “And I agree with you, but right now he’s not what’s important. You need to remember that Lyndley is still inside there.”

  I nodded my head and Ruger eased up on his hold of me. I fixed my vest and calmly walked over to the cruiser that they had just put Sam into. I leaned down so I was eye level with him and sternly asked him one more time. “Where is she?”